roasted chicken with potatoes
We had both of our families over for dinner last Friday night and I was craving chicken. I hadn’t made roasted chicken in a while — not since I made this version with artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes — so I wanted to try something new that would make everyone happy. Tons of ideas came to my mind, but when I asked Jon what type of roasted chicken he would like, he said: “with potatoes.” That sounded too common and nothing special, but I decided to give it a try anyways. The result was anything but common — the potatoes were golden and crispy on the outside, yet soft and so full of flavor on the inside. The chicken was moist, tender and juicy. The combination of both was just unbelievable. And guess what, the recipe couldn’t be easier!
Roasting a whole chicken is not a quick process. The longer you let the chicken cook, the juicier and softer it will be. So if you’re looking for a quick recipe that will take you less than an hour from start to finish, this is not the right one for you. I have plenty of other quick chicken recipes if that’s what you’re looking for. This recipe will take you a little over 2 hours from start to finish (including cooking time), but it’s well worth the time and effort.
You’ll need a whole chicken for this recipe, which you will first have to cut into parts and simmer in a vegetable broth until cooked through. The broth gives the chicken pieces so much flavor and will be used later too when you roast the chicken in the oven.
While the chicken pieces are cooking in the broth, fry the potatoes until golden. These aren’t the healthiest potatoes on the block, but I guarantee you that they’re some of the most delicious I’ve ever had and are entirely worth their calories! Once cooked, the fried potatoes are then seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, all-spice and cinnamon and added to a baking tray with the cooked chicken pieces. Cover the chicken and potatoes with the reserved broth and roast everything together for 1 hour, covered with aluminium foil. Remove the aluminium foil for the last 30 minutes of the cooking process so that the chicken becomes crispy.
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- 1 large chicken, cut into parts,
- 1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
- 1 small carrot, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2½ cups chicken broth
- 2kg potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 1½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon all-spice
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- In a large saucepan, add the chicken pieces, celery, carrot, bell pepper, garlic cloves and broth. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to lower and let simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Set the chicken aside and reserve the broth for later, keeping only the liquid and not the vegetables.
- While the chicken is cooking, heat vegetable oil in a pan for frying the potatoes. Fry the potatoes in batches (if they don't all fit in one pan) until golden on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes each batch. Set them aside in a large baking tray. Season the potatoes with the paprika, all-spice, cinnamon, salt and pepper.
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Put all the chicken pieces in the large baking tray, surrounded by the potatoes. Sprinkle some more paprika over the chicken pieces. Cover with the reserved broth.
- Cover the baking tray with aluminium foil and cook in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the aluminium foil and continue cooking for another 30 minutes. Serve warm.